Shloka 13
Kośārtha-Rājadharma: Ethical Revenue Collection and Social Regulation (कोशार्थ-राजधर्मः)
उपायान प्रब्रवीम्येतान् न मे माया विवक्षिता | अनुपायेन दमयन् प्रकोपयति वाजिन:
upāyān prabravīmy etān na me māyā vivakṣitā | anupāyena damayan prakopayati vājinaḥ rājān |
Bhishma said: “I shall declare these methods (of governance and discipline); I do not intend any deceit or crafty stratagem here. One who tries to subdue horses without employing proper means only provokes them to anger—so too, a ruler who oppresses people through unfit measures kindles resentment in their hearts.”
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Use appropriate, ethical means (upāya) rather than coercion or deceit (māyā). Improper methods of control do not create obedience; they generate anger and lasting resentment—especially in governance.
In Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs the king on rajadharma. Here he prefaces his counsel by rejecting trickery and illustrates, through the example of horse-training, that wrong methods of restraint provoke the very subjects one seeks to govern.